The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History

Book Description

The San Juan Skyway winds its way up, over, and through canyons, mesas, plateaus, mountains, plains, and valleys. The sheer variety of landforms makes the Skyway a veritable classroom for the amateur naturalist and historian.

The most complete work published on the natural history of southwest Colorado's majestic mountain system, The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History is designed to be used while exploring the scenic 235-mile paved San Juan Skyway, which passes through Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, Dolores, and Cortez.

The Western San Juan Mountains covers the physical environment, the biological communities, the human history, and points of interest represented on milepost signs along the highway. Some of the many topics covered include: how the San Juan Mountains were formed; why the landscape is so rugged and picturesque; why the vegetation changes from the lowlands to the alpine heights; energy and mineral resources of the area; why these mountains intrigued early explorers; factors that influence the unpredictable weather; and the first-known inhabitants.

The contributions to this guide include Fort Lewis College geologists, biologists, archaeologists, historians, and other specialists. Together they have amassed more than one hundred years of study based not only on previous work but on their own research.

This generously illustrated guidebook is aimed at all those who wish to understand this intricate mountain system in much greater detail than provided by most picture books.

Customer Reviews:

I got yer San Juan Skyway right here, pal!.......2003-10-20

This book will be tough going if you have no knowledge of geology, but having just finished Foutz' "Geology of Colorado Illustrated" (another excellent read), this book took me deeper into exactly what I was looking for geology-wise, i.e. more detail. Plus, it ties itself to the San Juan Skyway, a loop of paved highways that winds through the scenery of the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, a place I know well. After treating the geology, ecology, and human history with analyses from experts in each field, it follows up with what I think was a masterstroke: a mile-marker guide through the entire San Juan Skyway, highlighting points of interest previously discussed in the book. Wonderful! The fact that the book is a compilation, with contributions from various experts that know the region well, was also a great idea. You get as a result a wide scope of knowledge that may not have been matched by a single individual. I borrowed it from a friend, but I will buy it now that it has become available on Amazon.

The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History.: An article from: American Scientist

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The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History.: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B00097NM90
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

INTRODUCTION

Tunisia, the Arab world's most liberal nation, is recognizably Mediterranean in character and, in the north at least, predominantly European in style. Indeed, its popular image seems, at times, to verge on blandness, dominated as it is by the package holiday clichŽs of reliable sunshine, beautiful beaches and just a touch of the exotic. If this seems predictable, however, be assured that it forms only one side of the picture. Beyond the white sands of Jerba and Hammamet, there is a great deal to encourage more independent-minded travel: sub-Saharan oases and fortresses, medieval Islamic cities, and some of the finest of the world's surviving Roman sites.

Being such a compact country, especially when compared to its North African neighbours, Tunisia is also very easy to get around. Even with a fortnight's holiday, it is quite feasible to take in something of each of the country's aspects of coast, mountains and desert. The journey from Tunis, the capital on the north coast, to Tataouine, in the heart of the desert, can be made in a little over ten hours by bus or shared taxi and, while most trips are considerably shorter, the majority of journeys in Tunisia leave an impression of real travel in the transformation from one type of landscape and culture to another. This immediacy makes the country very satisfying to explore - an accessible introduction to the Arab world and to the African continent.

The country, sited strategically at a bottleneck in the Mediterranean, has long played an important role in North Africa's history. In antiquity it was the centre of Carthaginian civilization - the ruins of Carthage lie just outside modern Tunis - and, as that empire folded, it became the heartland of Roman Africa. Later, as Islam spread west, it was invaded and settled by Arabs, providing, in the cities of Kairouan, Tunis, Sousse and Sfax, vital power bases for North Africa's successive medieval dynasties. By the fifteenth century, the Europeans and Turks were also turning their attentions to Tunisia - a process that ultimately resulted in French colonization in the nineteenth century. Today, in its fourth decade of independence, Tunisia is a fully established modern nation and, by regional standards, relatively prosperous.

Where to go

If the diversity of Tunisia's past cultures and their legacy of monuments comes as a surprise to most first-time visitors, the range of scenery can be even more unexpected. In the north you find shady oak forests reminiscent of the south of France; in southern Tunisia, the beginning of the Sahara Desert, with colossal dunes, oases and rippling mirages. Between the extremes are lush citrus plantations, bare steppes with table-top mountains, and rolling hills as green and colourful (in spring) as any English county. Just offshore lie the sandy, palm-scattered islands of Jerba and Kerkennah.

In terms of monuments, the Roman sites of the north are the best-known, and, even if your interest is very casual, many are quite spectacular. At El Jem, in the Sahel, an amphitheatre which rivals Rome's Colosseum towers above the plain; at Dougga you can wander around a marvellously preserved Roman city, complete with all the accoutrements and buildings of second- and third-century prosperity; and there are sites, scarcely less grand, at Utica, Bulla Regia, Maktar and Sbe•tla, as well as the legendary, extensive and much-battered Carthage. They're all atmospheric places to visit and at the smaller sites off the excursion routes, you'll find yourself, as often as not, enjoying them alone.

Islamic Tunisia has a varied architectural legacy, taking in early Arab mosques - most outstandingly at Kairouan, the first Arab capital of North Africa - and the sophisticated Turkish buildings of Tunis, as well as the strange Berber fortresses of the south. The latter are accompanied by equally weird structures known as ghorfas, honeycombed storage and living quarters, and, at Matmata, by underground houses. All reward the small effort it takes to get off the more beaten tracks.

For more hedonistic pleasures, the coast is at its most beautiful - and most commercialized - around Hammamet, Sousse-Monastir and the island of Jerba (connected by causeway to the mainland). Hammamet is a genuinely international resort and its satellites are spreading; but, by Spanish or Greek island standards, developments remain relatively small-scale and unusually well planned. Escaping them entirely is not hard either: even within sight of Hammamet, on Cap Bon, there is still wild coastline; Bizerte, on the north coast, has good sands and more character; whilst the Kerkennah islands still retain genuine fishing villages. Your time should ideally include a spell in the desert and mountains as well as on the coast. The oases at Nefta and Tozeur are classically luxuriant, while further south, the ksour (extraordinary, fortified granaries) around Tataouine and dunes around Remada give the region an almost expeditionary feel (indeed, many people choose to go on organized "safaris", easily arranged locally). In the mountains of the northwest, Le Kef is an ideal place to rest up for a few days.

All of this ignores one of Tunisia's best facets - its people. While the hassle of some tourist areas (particularly for women) shouldn't be underestimated, visitors are often startled - and exhilarated - by the hospitality which they're shown when away from the major resorts. Few independent travellers leave Tunisia without having been invited, quite spontaneously, to stay with a family. Even during the 1991 Gulf War, when the government did not support the US and allied forces, and there was a certain amount of anti-Western rhetoric on the street, the slogans were usually transcended by Tunisians' extraordinary pleasure in meeting visitors. The politics of the wider world rarely hinder personal contact.

Customer Reviews:

Most useful and highly recommended.......2007-01-11

I'm a editor in Sweden and purchased this guide (together with Lonely Planet Tunisia) after my visit to Tunisia. Both are most useful in my work now and I highly recommended them. For those who are planning to visit Tunisia - prepare by reading the Rough Guide, and use the LP Tunisia as a guidebook during your visit.

Leave it at home.......2004-02-20

I took this guide book as well as the Lonely Planet toTunisa for a month. I could have easily gotten along with just the Planet, and it's smaller to lug around. The Rough Guide was often either vague, or the information was so wrong that I got the impression that some of the places written about were never actually visited by the writter. Directions were hard to follow and the layout of information was not nearly as concise as the Planet Guide. I was tempted to ditch this book many times along the way as it really wasn't worth the space it took up in my pack.

Must-Have Book for Travellers to Tunisia.......2000-09-30

If you're bound for Tunisia, you won't want to leave without this book. I'm one of those people who thinks there is never any *one* guide that's ideal for a destination -- I always take 2 good guides. And, for Tunisia, the Rough Guide is definitely the first of the two.

It is much, much more comprehensive than any other guide. The Blue Guide (my other choice for Tunisian visits), Lonely Planet Guide (also excellent though with less background), and others literally do not have 1/2 the content of the Rough Guide.

By supplementing this book with one other one (the Blue Guide for in-depth history & cultural information, or the Lonely Planet Guide for a smaller, hipper subset of travel tips) you'll have a great Tunisian stay. Whichever "other" guide you choose, you'll want this one for the COMPLETE story of any destination in any corner of Tunisia.

Must-Have Book for Travellers to Tunisia.......2000-09-30

Book Description

The Rough Guide Map Tunisia combines clear modern mapping and bang-up-to-date research and is the most comprehensive map to this fascinating North African country. The scale of 1:850,000 (1 inch: 12.8 miles) provides enough detail to include even the minor roads whilst being manageable for use in the car or whilst walking. The Rough Guide Map provides invaluable information for those exploring the country, from desert oases and ancient medinas to fascinating walled cities, with detail on everything from road numbers and petrol station locations to Islamic monuments and Roman remains.

Tunisia: The Rough Guide, First Edition (Rough Guides)

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Tunisia: The Rough Guide, First Edition (Rough Guides)
Peter Morris , and Daniel Jacobs
Manufacturer: Rough Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1858280656

Book Description

* Geared to the novice - includes extensive glossary, explanations and detailed procedures
* Uses accessible hardware and software
* Numerous graphical aids - reproductions of PC screen graphics are given to facilitate understanding
* Tested examples to benefit the learning process
* Provides references to more complex programs and techniques as well as citations to scientific literature.

Book Description

Mathematical Morphology is a speciality in Image Processing and Analysis, which considers images as geometrical objects, to be analyzed through their interactions with other geometrical objects. It relies on several branches of mathematics, such as discrete geometry, topology, lattice theory, partial differential equations, integral geometry and geometrical probability. It has produced fast and efficient algorithms for computer analysis of images, and has found applications in bio-medical imaging, materials science, geoscience, remote sensing, quality control, document processing and data analysis.

This book contains the 43 papers presented at the 7th International Symposium on Mathematical Morphology, held in Paris on April 18-20, 2005. It gives a lively state of the art of current research topics in this field. It also marks a milestone, the 40 years of uninterrupted development of this ever-expanding domain.

Book Description

This volume offers Descartes's essential writings and selections from his lesser known works, along with important selections from his philosophical correspondence. The result is an anthology that provides the reader not only with an invaluable collection of Descartes's writings but also with an understanding of the development of his thought over his lifetime. TABLE OF CONTENTS: General Introduction. Bibliography. Time Line. I. Early Works and Correspondence (1618-1637): Preliminaries and Observations; Rules for the Direction of the Mind [1-13]; To Mersenne, On the Eternal Truths; The World and Man [chs. 1-7]; To Mersenne, About Galileo's Condemnation.

II. Discourse on Method (1637).

III. Correspondence (1637-1641): To Silhon, Existence of God and the Soul; To Plempius for Fromondus, Atomism and Mechanism; To Vatier, On the Discourse; To Regius, Knowledge of the Infinite; To Colvius, On Augustine and the Cogito; To Mersenne, Immortality of the Soul; To Mersenne, The Aim of the Meditations and the Context for the Principles; To Mersenne, On J. B. Morin's Proof for the Existence of God.

IV. Meditations on First Philosophy (1641).

V. Objections by Some Learned Men to the preceeding Meditations, with Replies by the Author (1641) [selected].

VI. Correspondence (1641-1644): To Mersenne, Idea Defined and Discussed; To Giebieuf, Ideas and Abstraction; To Buitendijck, Possibility of Doubting God's Existence; To Elisabeth, Primitive Notions; To Mesland, On Freedom.

VII. Principles of Philosophy (1644-1647).

VIII. Late Works and Correspondence (1645 and later): To Mesland, On Freedom; To Clerselier, Concerning Principles; To Newcastle, About Animals; To Chanut, On Nicolas of Cusa and the Infinite; Notes against a Program (1648); To More, Replies to Objections; Passions of the Soul (1649)[selected]; Search After Truth. Index.

Customer Reviews:

The Best Introductory Edition of Descartes' Writings.......2004-02-18

Roger Ariew and Hackett Publishing have brought out a terrific edition of Descartes' writings, superior to the one published by Cambridge University Press for several reasons. First, the typeface in the Cambridge edition is not very clear--it almost looks like the pages have been photocopied.

Second, the Hackett edition not only has Descartes' important philosophical works, but also includes a fine selection from Descartes' minor writings and correspondence (since Cambridge also publishes the complete writings of Descartes, they're not particularly motivated to do something like this). One finds, e.g., Descartes' 1640 letter to Colvius regarding the 'cogito ergo sum' argument found in Augustine's City of God, as well as two very important letters to the Marquis of Newcastle and Henry More regarding the question of whether animals have souls and whether space is infinite and vacuums are possible.

All selections are arranged chronologically, and Ariew has written a helpful introduction. Numbers in the page margins correlate each selection to the place where it is found in the standard original language edition of Descartes' works (Oeuvres de Descartes, eds. Adam and Tannery, 2nd ed., Paris: 1964-74). This is THE introductory edition to get.

Good edition........2001-01-17

The philosophy of Descartes is not the most iron-clad of arguments. He bases almost all of his major conclusions on certain facts that are far from given. For instance, his proof that material things exist depends totally on the fact that God exists. While he does offer 2 proofs that God exists, the arguments are flawed. One is an argument that had been offered hundreds of years before, and was deemed flawed even then. The other just plain doesn't work.

But his philosophy did help bring about the skepticism of "Is this all real? What if it's just a dream, or a hallucination?". That in itself makes this book a good read.

This edition is rather nice, having a wide range of writings from Descartes, including the most famous, the Meditations with criticisms and responses.

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Essays on Philosophical Subjects (Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smit)
Adam Smith
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0865970238

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The Works (Never Before Published) of Jeanne-Marie Phlipon Roland, Wife of the Ex-Minister of the Interior; Containing Her Philosophical and Literary Essays, Written Previous to Her Marriage; Her Correspondence, and Her Travels.
Jeanne-Marie. Phlipon Roland
Manufacturer: London: J. Johnson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000R9T7DU

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Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin. Written By Himself, and Continued By His Grandson and Others. With His Social Epistolary Correspondence, Philosophical, Political, and Moral Letters and Essays, and His Diplomatic Transactionsas Agent at London and Minister P
Benjamin Franklin
Manufacturer: McCarty & Davis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000W56SSQ

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The works (never before published) containing her philosophical and literary essays, her correspondence and her travels, the justificative documents relative ... her imprisonment and condemnation ... notes
Roland
Manufacturer: J. Johnson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B000894FFY

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